Some restaurant operators have found a way to make televised entertainment as easy on the ears as it is on the eyes for their guests — albeit at a price.
They offer patrons a free, compact, portable wireless receiver that sits on the tabletop and receives sound from up to eight different TV channels or audio sources. It has simple controls that allow them to access the audio of any program playing in the house and adjust the volume to their liking, at a level that is audible mainly at the table and not bothersome to other customers. This personalized listening environment answers common problems of TV watching in commercial establishments — inaudible audio, because the TV sound is intentionally muted or lost in dining-room din, and, conversely, sound that’s so loud it’s annoying.
The device, brand-named Soundog, is a wireless speaker in a plastic housing about 5 inches square, controlled by digital pushbuttons and a rotary volume control on/off knob. It is powered by a rechargeable nickel-metal hydride battery that is placed each night into a charging rack dubbed the Doghouse. It receives the audio from up to eight different sources from a central transmitter via an in-house wireless network.
Although the typical patron taps Soundog for sports events, others use it to follow news and stock market reports, daytime soap operas and popular shows like American Idol.
“When I think of Soundog, I smile,” said Kelly Harris, chief empowerment officer of Times Grill Restaurant Group, operator of eight specialty-burger eateries based in Jacksonville, Fla. The device is offered in three units there, each of which typically has 11 TV screens. “It has been a neat little added thing — although it’s expensive — that we do in the restaurants.” He declined to say how much he pays.
Added Harris, “The customers love using it. They do not expect to be able to listen to what they’re watching.”
Guests react “very positively” to Soundog at franchised Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar units in the New York City metro area, reported Zane Tankel, chairman of Apple-Metro Inc., the Applebee’s licensee based in Harrison, N.Y. He began putting it into his 30 restaurants six months ago.
“The good news is that you get product differentiation in a marketplace where it is so difficult to differentiate yourself,” said Tankel. “The bad news is that it’s very expensive. We’ve invested in putting this into our restaurants at over $1 million.”
“Candidly, we have had some degree of difficulty leveraging it, getting everybody to make it part of the process of coming into the restaurant,” said Tankel. “If you just sit it on a table, it’s quite meaningless.” He hopes to make the concept easier for guests to understand by re-branding it as a “personal viewing system” on table tents and having staff do more explanation in person. “You need to work it,” said Tankel.
Times Grill, too, has wrestled with promotion. Servers used to deliver a spiel to customers at seating, “but that was too much information in the first 60 seconds,” said Harris. Currently, managers pitch it to parties that appear more intent on TV than socializing.
Does better listening translate into higher traffic, sales or frequency? “We really don’t have a handle on that yet,” said Tankel. “It takes some analysis.”
“I don’t think people come to us for the Soundog,” said Harris. “People come to us for the food and service, then the ambience, the culture and the feel. Soundog comes after that.”
Soundog is used in about 1,000 locations, including sports bars, casual eateries, hotels and colleges, according to its inventor, Doug Buday, chief executive of Sprox Inc., based in Charlevoix, Mich. He said a competing wireless audio control system Sports Select by Sports Select USA Inc. of Indianapolis — uses a different technology.
ASoundog lease is $349 per month per restaurant for a 10-month commitment. That includes the transmitter, eight Soundog receivers, the Doghouse charger and professional installation and maintenance. After 10 months, the rate drops to $199 per month. To purchase an eight-receiver system, it costs “just under $6,000” installed, Buday said.
Installation, which is done by subcontracted audio-video companies, takes about two hours on average, Buday said. The Soundog transmitter is connected to the TV system’s audio feed, typically a DirecTV system, and a transmitting antenna is installed near the ceiling.
